Strawberry Oats Bars

I love oats and experimenting with it to make different foods. Today's recipe is also made with oats and is a healthy one.  I got this recipe here and bookmarked it instantly as I found it very easy and ingredients used were also very simple and I must confess that I wanted to finish my strawberry jam too :D  

This recipe was in my TO TRY list and last weekend I finally made it and OMG it came out so yummy.  Trust me guys its seriously addictive.  You can't stop having just one. We finished up the whole batch on the same day and I myself had 70% of it :D  I loved these bars so much that I made a fresh batch again. This is the simplest recipe I ever came across.  Just mix up all the ingredients in one bowl, layer it in the baking pan and bake.  Super duper simple.

I made a few changes in the original recipe like I used thinly granulated brown sugar and castor sugar, reduced the quantity of butter, used vanilla essence in the base mixture and before baking topped the dish with chopped walnuts and I am glad I made those changes :)  Addition of walnuts and vanilla gave it a nice crunch and flavour. I also substituted strawberry preserve with strawberry jam. The final product was surprisingly divine.  (That is the beauty of experiments).

While layering the dish in the baking tray I didn't put a thick layer of strawberry jam as I wanted to have both outer crust and jam flavour equally.  You are free to use as much jam as you like.  After cutting and cooling the bars I shifted them to an airtight container and kept in the fridge.  I loved these bars even more on the following day as they became more firm and crunchy due to cooling.  I strongly recommend to store these bars in the fridge.

Its a delicious and healthy anytime snack for kids as well as adults.  Even you can have it as breakfast too with a glass of milk.  I can bet you would love to make it again and again because of its simplicity and taste.  The biggest proof of its deliciousness is that I have bought a fresh bottle of strawberry jam again ... just to make these bars :D

I am so happy with this recipe and so here sharing the recipe.  Do try and enjoy.  Happy Cooking :)

Recipe adapted from thepioneerwoman.com

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	¾ cup
Quick cooking oats/Rolled oats	¾ cup
Salted Butter (cold)	6 tbsp
Brown sugar	¼ cup
Castor sugar	¼ cup
Baking powder	½ tsp
Vanilla essence (optional)	¼ tsp
Chopped walnuts	2 tbsp
Strawberry jam	As required (I used 4 tbsp)

Method:

• Preheat the oven at 175 degree.  Grease a square pan with butter and keep aside.  
• In a mixing bowl, take all purpose flour, oats, baking powder, brown sugar, castor sugar and mix everything well.  Add butter and mix with your hand until the mixture becomes crumbly.  Add vanilla essence and mix again.
• Take half of the mixture and spread in the greased pan.  Cover the bottom of the pan with the mixture equally and press to make it firm.
• Layer the strawberry jam evenly on the prepared base of oats mix.  Cover it with remaining oats mix and lightly press the layer.  Sprinkle chopped walnuts and press them lightly.
• Bake it for 35 minutes or till it gets golden brown on the top.
• Remove from oven and let it cool down.
• Cut into squares and serve.
• Store the remaining bars in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

Notes:

1. You can top it with any nuts of your choice.
2. Instead of walnuts you can use chopped cashews or almonds.
3. White sugar can be used in place of brown sugar and castor sugar.  If using big granulated sugar, grind it slightly.
4. Layer as much jam as you want.
5. Do not over bake.